


One Short Day

by Mars_McKie



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Art, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-24 09:37:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17098145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mars_McKie/pseuds/Mars_McKie
Summary: Prompt - Cindy and Lunafreya being hella gay and adorable together with them either cuddling or something super cuteMy prompt fill for the FFXV Holiday Gift Exchange 2018, with added artwork!





	One Short Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BlazingWolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlazingWolf/gifts).



> *sings* One Short Day in the Altissian City... (name that show!)
> 
> I realise now this is hardly Christmassy, but I hope BlazingWolf likes it all the same!

The climb down the trellis is hardly the most elegant way to exit the embassy, though Lady Lunafreya manages it with the practised grace of one who has kept up an image of dignity on every step on her journey as Oracle. She is nearly at the bottom of her makeshift ladder when a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist.

“I’ve got you!” The arms pull Luna from the trellis and into a bridal lift (thus confirming Luna’s previous wonder about if the other woman would be strong enough to carry her in this manner). She is brought nose-to-nose with the person holding her; the mechanic Cindy Aurum, the brim of her Hammerhead baseball cap brushing against Luna’s forehead. “Well hi there, Princess!”

“Why thank you!” Luna giggles lightly. Cindy holds the position for a moment longer before decanting Luna onto her feet on the pavement. “Though I’m hardly a princess.”

“Well, today you’re gonna get treated like one,” Cindy determines. Though their meeting in Hammerhead had been brief while Lunafreya had been fleeing from Insomnia, it was no less meaningful as the two women fast bonded over a plate of fries in the local diner and agreed under better circumstances to go on a proper date. They had maintained correspondence through Luna’s dog, Umbra, and Luna had been delighted to learn that Cindy would be journeying to Altissia.

With a look up and down the alleyway that the embassy backs onto, Luna says, “Perhaps we should move someplace away from here...”

“Oh, right!” Cindy starts, then hands over a plastic bag she has been carrying. “This oughta help keep you hidden...”

Luna pulls from the bag a white hoodie decorated with red triangles, similar to the robes worn by the White Mage character from a Saturday morning cartoon she had once watched. She smiles at it and pulls it on over her knee-length white dress, the hood concealing her platinum blonde hair. “Thank you, Cindy. That is very thoughtful of you.”

“That oughta help against your celebrity status,” Cindy grins and leads Luna down the alley and onto the main street. “So, where are the best digs to visit in Altissia?”

“I have been in residence in the embassy for the duration of my visit and have yet to explore what this wondrous city has to offer,” Luna replied.

“No problem, we can be tourists together!” Cindy takes Luna’s hand in hers, their fingers intertwining, and together they step out from the shade into the bright sunlight. Cindy has such a frank, forward way of talking that Luna smiles easily.

Cindy flicks her red hat up, giving Luna a better look at her date; she is still wearing the same clothes that Luna had seen her wearing in Hammerhead -a yellow jacket over an orange bikini top, short denim shorts, white heeled boots and a pair of black goggles around her neck- though the layer of grease from working on car engines has been washed off in her time away from the outpost. Luna is able to look again on the powerful tanned body that she had been attracted to the first time they had met.

“So tell me,” Cindy says as they walk. “How is it that the most guarded Princess in all of Eos is able to sneak out the back window on a date?”

Luna grins, fast taking to her new nickname despite her initial protests. “Gentiana is keeping watch for me. She is a spirit loyal to the Oracle.”

“Ah, I see. Ain’t it good to have friends lookin’ out for you?” Cindy says. “Phew, this is a different heat to what I’m used to in Hammerhead. Though that sea breeze is mighty nice.”

The sun beats down on their faces and the smell of sea salt drifts on a cool breeze throughout the historical city, the ocean being an eternal presence no matter where they go. It is refreshing after being inside for so long and Luna finds herself taking big lungfuls of air as her head turns every which way, determined to see as much of Altissia as the day will allow her and feeling perfectly at peace.

Luna is content to allow Cindy to take control of the date, being happily dragged around the fancy clothes shops and purchasing a Cactuar sculpture for the dashboard of Cindy’s pick-up truck.

“Well, my feet are gettin’ tired and yours can’t be much better in those heels,” Cindy says a few hours later. “What say we find somewhere to sit down and get some grub? Luna?”

However, Luna is distracted as she hears a man cough and, turning, she sees the man huddled on a pavement of a half hidden alleyway, his skin blackened in patches as if covered in ash. The symptoms of Starscourge are instantly familiar to her.

“Even here...” Luna whispers to herself as she approaches the poor man. He looks up, confused, as she kneels before him and takes his hands in hers. She feels the scourge racking through his body, the pain he is in, the sense of abandonment after he had become infected, and her own power as Oracle wells up to counter against it.

“If you will permit me, I shall do what I can to ease your suffering,” Luna says.

The man initially shudders at the contact before replying, “please.” At his request, Luna’s hands glow golden and she is faintly aware of an awed whistle behind her.

“Now there’s somethin’ you don’t see everyday,” Cindy murmurs.

Luna bring her hands to the man’s temples and rests her forehead against his.

“Blessed stars of life and light, deliver us from darkness’ blight,” she prays. Her magic chases away the Starscourge from the man’s body and she feels his pain ease.

“It’s a miracle,” the man gasps. Leaning back, Luna can see that his skin has taken on a healthier tone.

“That is all I can do for now, but trust that relief will come in a matter of days,” she says kindly as she helps the man to stand and watches him walk away, but as she stands her look turns stern as she surveys the alley on which they find themselves. “The shadows are looming ever longer. Soon, all shall succumb to the darkness.”

“Talk about a downer.”

Luna starts at the murmured comment from Cindy and quickly turns to her.

“My apologies,” Luna says. “I did not mean to distract from our date.”

“It’s not a problem,” Cindy quickly bats away the apology. “It’s a pleasure watchin’ you work, an’ you were shinin’ like starlight! You’re so kind to everyone you meet.”

Luna bows her head in acknowledgement of the praise. “Thank you. You were saying about food, I believe?”

They return to the main street to locate a restaurant that Cindy had spotted previously and Luna worries her lip as she ponders Cindy’s words. The restaurant they locate has a closed off outdoor section where they sit and give their order to a waiter. Luna considers the crowd around them, far too interested in their own conversations, and removes the hoodie. She lets out a breath as she feels the cooling air on her arms.

“I have to ask,” Cindy says, lacing her fingers together and resting her chin on top of them. “Why me?”

Luna smiles at the question, her answer coming easy. “Because you are kind too. I can see it in everything you do. Your attitude makes it seem like anything is possible, and you are so strong in body and spirit that it is impossible not to love you.”

Cindy smiles, and though it is a small smile it lights up her entire face. Luna notes how her eyes crinkle slightly at the edges and the set of her lips, her pearly teeth flashing. “Well ain’t that the darnest thing; that’s exactly the reason I fell in love with you.”

Luna beams and the waiter returns with their order: two cups of coffee with a heart shape formed by the milk on top, and a slice of Kupoberry Cheesecake with a selection of berries and an edible moogle decoration. Cindy plucks the strawberry off the top into her fingers and presents it to Luna.

“To strong women,” Cindy says in a mock toast. Luna leans forward and bites the strawberry, her teeth just nipping the stem so that her lips brush over the tips of Cindy’s gloved fingers. The strawberry is sweet in her mouth, as is the rest of the dessert and they share it out like a couple on their honeymoon, feeding each other bites and berries from their forks.

As they drink their coffee they share more details about their lives previously untouched on: Luna learns how Cindy’s parents fell to daemons in the night and how it is now her goal to fit all cars with daemon-repelling headlights, while Luna speaks of her early life with her family in Tenebrae and her current fears for her brother, Ravus. She is mindful to avoid talking of her duty as Oracle again, if only to keep the concern from Cindy’s eyes.

They finish their meal and Luna pulls her hoodie back over her head. Too soon the sun is starting to descend in the sky.

“Is there anything else you wish to see?” Luna asks.

Cindy pouts. “There was one other thing, but I think we’d need to take a gondola to get there.”

Luna has been intrigued with the gondolas ever since she arrived in Altissia. “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”

They make their way up a winding staircase to a high gondola station where a boat floats waiting for the next customer. The gondolier offers his hand out to Luna and she graciously accepts, gracefully setting herself down in the seat. Cindy embarks with more of a wobble, not as quick to find her sea legs.

“Whoops! Nearly!” she laughs, settling down next to Luna on the seat. She wraps her arm around Luna’s waist and pulls her close. With a low growl from the motor they are off, the black gondola cutting through the water.

“Ah, that breeze feels good,” Cindy remarks.

“Indeed,” Luna murmurs. The buildings spread out below them and gives them an unobstructed view to the Walls of Water that surround the city. It is truly breath-taking.

Luna leans into Cindy’s side and marvels at how their bodies fit together as though they were sculpted for each other. She thinks to herself before saying, “If I am like starlight then you are sunlight.”

“Oh?” Cindy says in surprise.

“Your kindness is so bright and strong, it radiates from you like sunlight and warms the hearts of those around you.”

“Aw, that’s mighty nice of you to say,” Cindy replies, and squeezes Luna’s side appreciatively. Luna is unprepared for the touch and lets slip a rather unladylike squeal as she jumps in the air. The gondola wobbles and there is an alarmed shout from the gondolier behind them as he is nearly thrown into the water.

“Ladies! Please don’t rock the gondola!” the gondolier cries. Luna and Cindy both apologise (though they are both holding back laughter) and Luna settles into Cindy’s embrace again, resting her head against the mechanic’s voluminous chest and cuddling contently.

The rest of the journey passes uneventfully and they disembark onto another distract of Altissia. They make their way to the statue of the Tidemother, the twisted metal Leviathan dominating the square, and they see other people throwing paper birds at the statue’s mouth.

“Make a wish and throw it into the Tidemother’s mouth for it to come true!” a vendor explains, offering them a paper bird.

“You can do it for the both of us,” Luna says to Cindy as she takes the bird. “My dreams and hopes are those which I am working towards.”

“You sure?” Cindy asks, and Luna nods. Cindy turns to look at the statue and taps the pen against her lips, clearly thinking what to wish for. After a moment, she writes something on the bird that Luna can’t see and -with expert precision- throws the paper bird straight into the Leviathan’s mouth. A few people clap and she takes a bow.

Fingers interlaced once more, they walk down the steps to an outlook over the city below and with a view of the Totomostro Arena in the distance. There they find an artist offering to do a caricature of the both of them. They accept the offer and stand to pose for the drawing.

“Might I enquire what you wished for?” Luna says quietly as they stand.

Cindy considers, biting her lip before she replies, “That you remain safe while you fulfil your calling.”

Luna turns, surprised, to look at her. “Cindy-”

Cindy blushes. “You spend all of your time ensuring the safety of the people of this world; I only want to see to it that you are looked after too.”

Luna sighs. “Bless you, Cindy. That you would use your wish for me... I’m honoured.”

Cindy shoots her the brightest smile; the kind that Luna imagines could chase away the darkness from their star all on its own. The caricaturist finishes the drawing and they thank her while they admire the simplistic (though strangely accurate) artwork. Luna folds the paper neatly and sets it carefully in the pocket of her hoodie for safe keeping.

Together, they make their way to the edge of the outlook. Luna stands with her hands clasped in front of her while Cindy sits on the low stone wall (despite the perilous height). The sun is fast sinking in the sky.

“I consider it the highest blessing to be granted time spent in your light,” Luna says. Cindy stands from the wall, takes both of Luna’s hands in hers and pulls her in for a soft kiss, their lips barely brushing at first then connecting to deepen the kiss. As far as Luna’s first kiss goes, the location, the build up, and the person she is sharing it with, all of it combines to be perfect.

Eventually, they concede that they must return to the embassy before night falls and they run the risk of encountering any daemons that are rumoured to have found their way into the city. The gondola ride back is under a dusky sky and they sit entwined in each other’s arms, sharing more kisses and snuggling against the chill of the evening air. All too soon they are disembarking, making their way back through the streets and sneaking down the alleyway around the back of the embassy.

“Thank you, Cindy,” Luna says when they reach the trellis. “Today has been truly wondrous.”

“I’m only sorry it’s been so short,” Cindy says, rubbing the back of her head. “In the future we’ll definitely do this again!”

“I look forward to it,” Luna nods. She senses a disturbance in the air and turns to greet her loyal friend, Gentiana.

“Hey there, you just snuck right up on us, didn’t cha!” Cindy laughs in alarm.

“Is all well?” Luna asks, the concern that her disappearance has been noted suddenly surging in her mind.

“All is well,” Gentiana confirms. “Your brother has now arrived at the front gate.”

“I should go,” Luna says to Cindy, though the mechanic cups her cheek and pulls her in for one last sweet, lingering kiss.

“It’s bin a pleasure, Princess,” Cindy says. Regretfully, Luna turns and climbs the trellis. Gentiana is already there at the top to welcome her back, though Luna turns and waves to Cindy as she disappears around the corner with one last wave. Gentiana hums a warning and Luna quickly remembers to pull off the white mage hoodie, stashing it in a drawer and straightening as her brother lets himself into her private rooms, her life returning to that as the Oracle. Later, she will pull out the hoodie and extract the drawing, setting it on her bedside table; the memory of one short day to have and to hold.

**Author's Note:**

> I have been attempting for the past half hour to add the painting I did that goes with this story into Ao3 and I don't know if it worked or not, so here is the link just in case -> https://marsmckie.tumblr.com/image/181305736811  
> Please do not repost my artwork.
> 
> Happy holidays!!


End file.
